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To assess the energy performance of urban planning projects in early design stages with low input and evaluation effort within the project CityCalc, an easily applicable planning and evaluation tool has been developed.

E_PROFIL is a set of methods (an IT-supported toolkit) for the elaboration of neighbourhood profiles. The aim of the project is to facilitate an energy and resource efficient development in the planning practice of Austrian cities. Furthermore, the project is an important asset for research and planning activities in Europe and can also be applied to other neighbourhoods.

The aim of the exploration-study for the urban region Bruck/Oberaich "Energieschwamm Bruck" or "Energy-Sponge-Bruck" was to establish clear and stringent basics for a flexible development of the future energy system. Therefore an energy development concept as well as a cadaster for short-term implementation measures had been applied. The structured, Bruck-based approach acts as framework for a general energy-conception-method, valid for small and medium urban regions with 10,000 to 20,000 inhabitants.

Two concrete model regions (small city Gleisdorf and urban city quarter Salzburg-Schallmoos) will be developed and tested using new methodical approaches (interdisciplinary urban and regional energy planning, modeling and simulation). Therefore, it is aimed to substantiate scenarios and concepts for the implementation of defined targets on technical, ecological and economic criteria.

Development of testbeds and demonstration zones within already designated areas for urban development along the Graz-Gleisdorf Innovation-Axis with a focus on energy, integrated building technology, smart city-spaces, compact settlement structures, generational living, and ‘cities of short ways’. It will pay specific attention to intermodal mobility as well as ICT-based solutions.

Development and coordination of indicators for energy and ecological evaluations of urban areas based on the Swiss 2000-Watt certification system. The results will be used for the development of a quality assurance system for urban areas similar to the klimaaktiv declaration for buildings and the e5 certification for communities.

Examination of the suitability of street space or other paved or not paved surfaces in urban areas for promoting renewable heat from solar radiation. Thus offers a high potential for increasing energy efficiency and conserving resources in urban contexts. Besides, the dissipation of heat from large solar-heated surfaces promises to prevent urban heat islands.

The goal of the project “Itz Smart” is to tie in with existing activities and to consistently develop Itzling as a residential location further. In the test and demonstration area, sustainable residential quarters with trendsetting solutions for mobility are developed in the zone of the transport axis (railway and Schillerstraße) and along the local supply axis (Itzlinger Hauptstraße). The consideration of housing and mobility with regard to the aspect of “city of short ways“ also entails a discussion of determined mixed utilisation and the development of such residential quarters.

The aim of this project was to estimate the potential to reduce urban heat islands via low-tech measures such as the variation of the surface albedo, using the City of Vienna as an example. The project has also assessed the energy savings and greenhouse gas emission reductions due to the decreased energy demand for cooling as a result of such measures.

Based on the urban region Graz a method had been developed for the coordinated use and management of shallow geothermal energy for heating and cooling as well as seasonal heat storage in urban regions. Ground water flow, different geologic conditions, heating and cooling demand, heat input from solar collectors and industrial waste heat and the possibilities of seasonal heat storage in the subsurface were considered.

The energy demand calculated in the design phase often differs from measured values in the actual building operation. This projects reviews building automation and operation by presenting a solution how to assess energy efficiency of control strategies in the fields of air conditioning systems, concrete core activation and free cooling. The results are implemented in the demonstration building "Post am Rochus".

The aims of this project are to analyse planning and building legislation in order to identify barriers, potentials and suitable courses of action for energy-orientated policy measures. Specific policy recommendations are developed with a view to increasing the sustainability of energy-related city structures. For these purposes the project combines two different disciplinary approaches: a thorough legal analysis and a spatial structure and quantitative impact assessment.

This project enabled the opportunity for an essential energy efficiency increase within overlapping buildings, to achieve the objective of resilient cities and districts with respect to a high quality of life, resource sustainability and energy efficiency. The goal was a workable tool based on a multidisciplinary planning approach, to support the decision finding process in order to design both refurbishment projects and new developments within a highly efficient city.

The concept of a smart city explicitly refers to a sustainable city development. To apply smart city concepts in practice, it is essential to develop practice- and profit-oriented business models (smart services), which at the same time generate social and ecological benefits. Smart services were developed for the application in three specific city development areas and their practicability was verified in a comprehensive stakeholder process with decision makers.

In the project ERP_hoch3 energy related policy research in three Austrian agglomerations (Vienna – Lower Austria, Graz – Styria and Vorderland-Feldkirch) has been done, scenarios of the current state and the target state have been modelled and calculated. The aim was to develop generic transferable recommendations for spatial energy planning in agglomerations.

Open spaces such as parking lots, brownfields and some categories of recreation areas offer an underutilised potential for photovoltaics in urban regions. In the course of Syn[En]ergy an inter- and transdisciplinary approach potential synergies and conflicts with other use demands were investigated, a typology and practical solutions for selected areas with regard to requirements from economy, urban planning and design, legal as well social aspects developed, and then evaluated by stakeholders from enterprises, administration and the general public.

SynENERGY aims at an innovative, holistic approach to urban district optimization. The project targets a comprehensive analysis of the framework and urban development concept which includes not only optimisation of sustainable energy supply and use but also increased material flows (construction and disposal) at urban district level.

The use of renewable energies in inner city locations is mostly linked to higher costs andconsidered as problematic. The aim of this project was to optimize (cost and energy) heating (and where required, cooling) using geothermic and photovoltaic for an urban, densely-built development area. With the project´s findings it will be easier to ecologically and economically plan the use of renewable energies especially in urban areas.

URSOLAR provides decision makers with a roadmap for the integrated use of solar energy in urban environments. The roadmap shows, how photovoltaics- and solar-thermal installations can be used in an ecological, economical and socially optimal way whilst considering legal requirements as well as infrastructural conditions in typical city quartiers and stakeholder interests.